{"id":3667,"date":"2019-07-11T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T09:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crazy4fiction.com\/?p=3667"},"modified":"2021-09-28T20:45:47","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T20:45:47","slug":"author-guest-post-carla-laureano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/crazy4fiction\/author-guest-post-carla-laureano\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Alone: Lessons in Grief and Trauma from London Tides"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As a former war photographer, Irish photojournalist Grace Brennan from Carla Laureano\u2019s novel London Tides<\/em><\/a> has witnessed a great deal of devastation. And in the aftermath of a tragic personal loss, Grace is reeling. Like Grace, to deal with trauma or loss, we may turn to unhealthy modes of coping with our pain. Read Carla Laureano\u2019s article below to find some tips that may help you the next time you find yourself struggling to cope with stress or pain in your own life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I often say that Grace Brennan from London Tides<\/em> is my favorite female character of all the ones I\u2019ve written, but she was also the most difficult. Because she was a war photographer suffering from PTSD, it was important to me that I portrayed her actions and her mental state accurately, and I\u2019ve been told by readers whose loved ones deal with the disorder that I captured the struggles faithfully.<\/p>\n

If you do have a diagnosed mental health condition or suspect you might, I encourage you to seek the help of a qualified professional who specializes in trauma. That said, we don\u2019t have to be suffering from PTSD to learn from Grace\u2019s journey. Daily life provides plenty of opportunity for grief, trauma, and anxiety that fall below the threshold of a psychiatric diagnosis but still affect our everyday lives. I lived for years with anxiety and chronic health conditions triggered by stress, and in many ways, I closely related to what Grace was going through.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What I\u2014and Grace\u2014found is that some things can help us deal with the stressors, both big and small, in our lives.<\/p>\n

1) Don\u2019t be ashamed.<\/strong> For most of us living in the Western world, we have very little to complain about. We have places to live, food to eat, and possessions to make our daily lives easier, often in more abundance than we actually need. So it can be easy to dismiss our problems with a pithy hashtag: #firstworldproblems. But just because our problems aren\u2019t life-threatening doesn\u2019t make them any less real. By refusing to acknowledge the things that bother us, whether they are small hurts or a major loss, we allow them to fester and grow.<\/p>\n

2) Don\u2019t hold it in.<\/strong> It can be tempting to keep the details of our struggles to ourselves, either because we think other people won\u2019t understand or because we\u2019re afraid to be seen as weak. But holding in negative emotions rarely makes them go away; it just allows them to multiply. When we\u2019re in pain, it becomes increasingly more difficult to keep things in perspective and make good decisions. Whether you speak with a friend, a spouse, or a mental health professional, make sure that you open up to someone you trust. Only when we let negative emotions out do we have room to let positive ones in.<\/p>\n

3) Don\u2019t neglect the Word.<\/strong> Often when I\u2019m going through something difficult or traumatic, the first thing to go is my quiet time with the Lord. I find it difficult to relate to the out-of-context verses that other Christians throw out when they don\u2019t know what else to say; they can feel more like platitudes than real help. That\u2019s when I dive into the books that speak to suffering in a real, visceral way, like Job and Psalms. Of all the characters in the Bible, Job and King David truly know what it is to have problems that can\u2019t be solved with a pithy saying. The believers in these books don\u2019t sweep suffering under the rug with the idea that real Christians would simply \u201cconsider it all joy.\u201d They wrestle with God, display true pain, and eventually find peace in God\u2019s sovereignty and comfort.<\/p>\n

4) Don\u2019t neglect the physical.<\/strong> Just like we shouldn\u2019t ignore our spiritual lives when we\u2019re grieving or disappointed, we can\u2019t forget the physical. Our bodies are more intricately entwined with our minds and spirits than we like to believe, and while there often isn\u2019t a sole physical cause to our problems, there\u2019s often a physical or medical component to our mental states. When I went through a period of extreme anxiety, I didn\u2019t have the capacity to talk to others about my problems or even bring them to God. It wasn\u2019t until I addressed the elements of my diet and everyday routine that were exacerbating my physical symptoms that I could truly deal with the mental and spiritual components. There\u2019s a reason why James 2:16 (NIV) says, \u201cIf one of you says to them, \u2018Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,\u2019 but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?\u201d The Bible recognizes that before we can deal with our minds and souls, we must address our bodies.<\/p>\n

While these four points can\u2019t immediately erase the pain, grief, and disappointments of this life, they can give us tools to move toward healing in healthy and productive ways. However, sometimes thoughts and emotions can be too much to handle on your own. If you are contemplating self-harm, please follow Grace\u2019s example and seek out a qualified mental health professional or contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Order<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n

London Tides<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Carla Laureano<\/h2>\n

\"\"Irish photojournalist Grace Brennan travels the world\u2019s war zones documenting the helpless and forgotten. After the death of her friend and colleague, Grace is shaken.<\/p>\n

She returns to London hoping to rekindle the spark with the only man she ever loved\u2014Scottish businessman Ian MacDonald. But he gave up his championship rowing career and dreams of Olympic gold years ago for Grace . . . only for her to choose photography over him. Will life\u2019s tides bring them back together . . . or tear them apart for good this time?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a former war photographer, Irish photojournalist Grace Brennan from Carla Laureano\u2019s novel London Tides has witnessed a great deal of devastation. And in the aftermath of a tragic personal loss, Grace is reeling. 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